Checked the Local Fish Store

[afurlow96]

Did some digging around while i was letting my 10 gallon tank cycle and many people seem to agree that Petco / Petsmart will say what they have to to get a sale, therefore for an aquarium they are not the most reliable, so i went to a fish store that sells strictly aquarium goods (although much of the store is for saltwater aquariums, they do have a freshwater) and asked a few questions about getting my tank started.
First off I told her that a Dwarf Gourami is one of my favorites, so there will have to be one in the tank. I asked what good tank mates are and she pretty much told me to say what i wanted and she will say they are good or not. She said other Gourami are okay, I then asked if Barbs were good, because i do like them too (to be fair i didn't specify which kind when talking to her, i meant panda barbs just in case they need different amounts of space) and she said i could get 4-6 barbs in a tank with a Dwarf Gourami. I asked about a crayfish and she said it will terrorize all the fish in the tank so it is a bad idea. Im wondering if she was right with the stuff she gave me advice on, if not, please let me know of some good Dwarf Gourami tank mates for a 10 gallon -

 

[Brookster123]

Barbs don't belong in any the ing less than a 29, they are extremely active and take comfort in groups of 5+, in all honesty you're probably goi BFF to be maxed with just the gourami in a 10, you could maybe add some harlequin rasboras or shrimp..

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[jglover]

In a 10 with a dwarf gourami, you could get by with a few small tetras but that's about it. You'll still need to be fairly rigid with your tank maintenance and water changes. I have a DG, five glolight tetras and four otos in a 10 gallon and according to Aqadvisor, that is 103% stocking. I've also got 20 gallons of HOB filtration plus a small sponge running in the tank as well and do 30% water changes every five days. so it can be done but you have to keep up with the water in the tank. However with a new tank, do not start with all your dish at once, get either the gourami or the small schooling fish first and give your filter a couple of weeks to adjust to the new bioload before adding anything else.